Reviews with content warning for Grief - Salt Houses

I loved getting to walk with the Yacoub family through so many years, getting to see how each of them grows internally and in relationship to the others. I believe the fact that Hala is a clinical psychologist allowed the characters to feel real. Also, there were many actual historical references that kept the story rooted in reality.

Content Warnings

turtlebrainlibrarian's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

5.0

A debut multi-generational (four generations) story of a Palestinian family: the Yacoub family. The family doesn't talk much about Palestine but talk about being displaced and out of place as they move through Nablus, Kuwait, Amman, Paris, Beriut and Boston. Sometimes they move by choice, but sometimes they are uprooted by war (Six Day War of 1967 and Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990).

We are given the perspective of Salma (1963), Mustafa (1965), Alia (1967, 1988), Atef (1977, 2011), Riham (1982, 1999), Souad (1990, 2004), Linah (2006) and Manar (2014). Four generations of the Yacoub family, their ups and downs, their family dynamics, the generational trauma, the feeling of not fitting in, etc.

The writing is lyrical and easy to follow. You will find many wonderful quotes as you read the book. The narrative does jump between each character, but we do get to see those characters grow and change in the other perspectives, so they are well rounded. It is a character driven novel, which I enjoy.

Also, the author is a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma, addiction and cross-cultural behavior. You can see elements of this knowledge throughout.

Content Warnings

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book left me in such a state that I can’t write a review as cohesively as I normally do but I will share what thoughts I can cobble together:

Salt Houses beautifully raw story about a Palestinian family spread across the world after the Six Day War in 1967. We follow four generations of this family as they grapple with the enormous loss of being forced to leave Palestine and have to continue their lives elsewhere.

Hala Alyan’s writing is absolutely incredible, it’s lyrical and elegant and I underlined so many powerful quotes while reading. Through her captivating prose, Alyan is able to weave a story of four generations, centering on the relationships between mothers, and daughters and sisters.

We see how they are impacted by Israel’s violence against their family and land for decades after and how the loss of their homeland shaped their lives. This is a story of loss and grief, but we also see these characters in their most tangibly human moments. They grow up, they find love, have children, get old. There is sorrow but there is also joy and love.

Each member of the family carries the memory of Palestine with them in a different way, they are shaped by it but each of their lives takes a different path. I found myself attached to each character for different reasons, they were all so vivid and human I couldn’t help but be drawn in. Even if I disliked particular characters I was fascinated by them and resonated with their messiness and imperfections.

Salt Houses is such an incredibly impactful story about life, loss and family and I urge everyone to read it.

Content Warnings

felishacb's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Intergenerational stories that move through time featuring vignettes from different characters across three generations.

You see the pain and never-ending grief of displacement through the lives of this Palestinian family and their descendants, spread across the world from Paris to Boston to Lebanon to Jordan. But rarely home. Their refugee status is a shadow throughout, understood differently by each generation as time passes, but it never overpowers the dignity of their very human existence, their sometimes flawed choices and everyday tensions.

I was engaged throughout the story, but I have to admit the emotional revelations in the last chapters of the book stabbed at my heart. This book will stick with me.

Quotes:

She misses Mustafa. Like a city after a tsunami, the earth is altered without him. Wrecked.
**
'Motherhood doesn't suit me,' she once confessed to Budur, drunk. 'I don't have the stomach for not knowing what's next.'
**
"'Punch me,' he wants to yell at Mustafa. 'Tell me to fuck off. Hit me in the face. Pick up that goddamn suitcase. Walk down the driveway.

I would have followed you.
I would have followed you.

Take me with you. You can save yourself. We can both live.'"

Content Warnings

geeoriginal's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Content Warnings

rachelfayreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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